Kerala court sentences 20-year-old man in minor girl rape case
Kollam (Kerala) (PTI): A Kerala court has sentenced a 20-year-old man to 21 years of imprisonment for raping a minor girl after befriending her on a social media app.
Karunagappally Fast Track Special Court judge Rajeevan Vachal sentenced the convict to 21 years under the relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, special public prosecutor (SPP) N C Premchandran said.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.1 lakh on the convict, the prosecutor said.
The incident occurred in 2024 when the accused befriended her on a social media app and then offered to take her to the Azheekal beach here.
However, instead of taking her to the beach, he took her to an isolated place behind the CHC hospital at Mynagappally here and raped her, the SPP said.
Following the incident, the girl attempted suicide, but was saved and then told the doctors what had happened, the prosecutor said.
The hospital authorities informed the police, who registered a case and launched an investigation.
The prosecutor said that seven witnesses were examined and 20 documents were submitted before the court to substantiate the guilt of the accused.
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AIADMK leader denies reports of Palaniswami's proposed meeting with TN Guv
Chennai (PTI): Senior AIADMK leader S Semmalai on Thursday ruled out that his party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami would be meeting Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar amid the political uncertainty post Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.
There were some reports that Palaniswami is likely to meet the governor to discuss the possibility of forming a government after providing support to TVK, which has 108 seats.
Denying the reports, Semmalai told reporters that "there is no such need". The AIADMK has not received any invitation from TVK, written or oral, seeking support to form government in the state, the former minister said.
To a question whether the AIADMK would support any invitation extended by the TVK, Semmalai said that decision will be taken by Palaniswami.
"Our leader will decide. He is not a king maker. He is the king", he added.
Vijay is making efforts to cobble up support to form his maiden government after his TVK emerged as the single largest party post the April 23 polls, the results of which were announced on Monday.
TVK won 108 seats, 10 short of the simple majority in the 234-member House to form government. The Congress, with five MLAs, has extended support to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.
